Jodhaa Akbar BD50 first impression - Very good. Plays on PS3 unlike EROS's BDs. costs 900 Rupees. As I have already seen the Bodega B Region release, I can say that the quality of this release is very much comparable. Bodega is superior in terms of colors which I feel are more vibrant compared to this one but its region locked and this one is region free and no English subs in Bodega. Here English subtitle is available but is not scope friendly. Bodega's release had bad side borders, here the borders are even. I am a happy customer.

Size=41.3 GB
Video=AVC codec
Audio=DTS-HD(MA), DD 5.1 448Kbps
Subs=English (NOT Scope Friendly)
Special features=NONE

Screen shots below (all lossy compressed format)

I too have seen French Jodha Akbar. French Jodha Akbar looks HD Video But This Reliance's Jodha Akbar is near to Film quality. I liked Indian Jodha Akbar. Some one will sure inform reliance about the subtitles, so next time they will ask authoring company to provide scope friendly subtitles.

Yet again, the brightness levels have been botched. Blacks and whites are grey. No such problem on the French Bodega release - I'll stick with that version.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this release of 'Jodhaa Akbar' is quite poor compared to the Region B, Bodega released BD. I have both BDs and I spent quite some time comparing the Video & audio of the two and I am sorry to say but this release from 'Big Home Video is no way close to the exceptionally high quality Bodega BD.

My comparison in numbers:

Video:
Bodega - 4.5 out 5.0
BIG Home Video - 3.75 out of 5.0

Audio:
Bodega - 5.0 out of 5.0
BIG Home Video - 3.75 out of 5.0

Extras:
Bodega - 4.0 out of 5.0
BIG Home Video- 0 out of 5.0

Overall:
Bodega - 4.5 out of 5.0
BIG Home Video - 3.5 out of 5.0

BD player used for testing:
Oppo BD-83 (Hardware modified for Region Free, with latest firmware)
PS3 (Region A, with latest firmware)

PS: What's with all these multiple threads on the same topics?

Title: Jodhaa Akbar
Year: 2008
BD Release: 2009
IMDB Rating: 7.3
Category: Action | Biography | Drama | History | Musical | Romance
Distributor: BIG Home Video
Authoring House: Digital Entertainment
Region Coding: A/B/C
MRP: Rs. ?
Media: Main Feature - 50GB BD
Running Time: 00:00:00 hrs
Chapters: ?
Video:
2.35:1, HD 1080p 16:9, AVC 23.976Hz
Peak Bitrate 36Mbps | Average Bitrate 30Mbps
Audio:
1/2 Hindi - Dolby Digital 5.1 (48khz 448 kbps) <-- Default track.
2/2 Hindi - DTS-HD MA 5.1 (48khz)
Subtitles:
1/1 English
Special Features:
NONE

Special Mention:
No Watermark Logo, during songs or otherwise. <-- 'Yash Raj' please note.
No scrolling advertisements during songs. <-- All Bollywood Video companies, please take note.
No advertisements before or during the movie. <-- All Bollywood Video companies, please take note.

Review:
The video quality is quite dissapointing, with the picture looking totally washed out and dull. The colours are dull & drab as if they have faded. The contrast levels are poor and blacks look like dark grey. All this specially stands out when compared to the Bodega BD, which has a beautifuly vibrant and colorful picture.

The audio on this is downright dissapointing, specially when compared to the absolutely fantastic Bodega BD. The surprising and almost shocking thing is that, I could barely make out any difference between the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 448kbps' & the 'DTS-HD MA 5.1' tracks. To me, it almost seems as if they have taken the lossy master and re-encoded it in 'DTS-HD MA'. Compared to the Bodega BD audio, the audio here is comparitevely lifeless and the bass very boomy. Even the surround and channel speration on the Bodega BD is far superior.

Maybe if I had not seen the Bodega BD and more importantly, if I did not have it at hand, to do a side by side comparison, I may have found the 'BIG Home Video' BD slightly more acceptable. But given that I do have the Bodega BD and I have seen it side by side with the 'BIG Home Video' BD, I can't but say, that this is not a very good BD. In conclusion, I suggest you rent this, instead of buying it. That is, not unless you are a big fan of the movie and you absolutely must have it, or the English subtitles are a must and/or you are limited to 'Region A', then and only then buy this 'BIG Home Video' BD. Otherwise, the Bodega version is worth every extra cent it might cost you. In any case, this 'BIG Home Video' BD is a definite and huge improvement over the absolutely crappy, non-anamorphic DVD release, which has been the only available option so far for people who need the English sub-titles.

My ratings:
Video: 3.75 out of 5.0 (Bodega BD - 4.5 out 5.0)
Audio: 3.75 out of 5.0 (Bodega BD - 5.0 out of 5.0)
Extras: 0 out of 5.0 (Bodega - 4.0 out of 5.0)
Overall: 3.5 out of 5.0 (Bodega BD - 4.5 out of 5.0)

Equipment used for testing:
Projector: Panasonic PT-AE2000U
Screen: Da-Lite 4:3 120" 'Model B' - White Matte
Viewing Distance: 11' 6"
A/V Receiver: Denon AVR5800
Speakers: 5.1
Front/Main: Paradigm Reference 100 v2
Center: Paradigm Reference Studio CC v2
Rear: Paradigm Reference 100 v2
Subwoofer: Paradigm Reference Servo 15
BD Player:
Oppo BDP-83 (Hardware modified for Region Free with latest firmware)
PS3 (Region A with latest firmware)

No bubble busted. I too got both the BD;s and I feel PQ of Indian BD far superior then the French. French looks like video and Indian looks like Cinematic quality.I have already mentioned Indian Jodha Akbar has a striking filmic tone that features lush colors and an impressive level of fine object detail.

Thats my taste and I am happy with my todays purchase.

I merged two of them

Ali

Comparison...

Big Home Video:


Bodega:


Looks to me like the only difference between the two transfers is the botched contrast levels on the BHV version. Otherwise, they look identical.

Take my word for it, the difference is far more than just the contrast. Also, the difference is not just in the picture quality, but the audio as well. In fact the difference in the quality of the Audio is huge. Considering that both discs have a DTS-HD MA track, the difference is quite shocking.

^ Bodega's audio was 6.1 DTS-HD (MA) but BIG's is 5.1 DTS-HD (MA) so obviously there will be a lot of difference.

I dont have the Big Home Video version of JA, but I do believe that Bodega version was bit more saturated to my eyes. Looking the comparison screens posted by stephen I believe my opinion to be right.

Since my audio setup is only 5.1, therefore the Bodega BD having 6.1 sound makes no difference. In any case it is the overall sound quality, specially the bass and the sound field & channel seperation, which is far superior on the Bodega BD. What is even more surprising is that on the Big BD, I hardly found any difference, if any, between the lossy DD and lossless DTS-HD track. In fact the overall audio sounded suspiciously similiar to the audio on the Big DVD. I seriously have a feeling that they may have simply re-encoded a lossy source to DTS-HD MA. I wish I could have you guys hear the difference between the two BDs. Even my wife and a few friends of her's were able to immediately tell the difference and in a blind test, all of them always selected the Bodega as superior over the Big BD.

^ I agree, there is a difference between the Bodega DTS-HD and this one. But it definitely doesn't sound bad either. Definitely not the way you feel as if it was done from a lossy re-encode. I guess its just the encoder (Surcode, DTS Premium, etc) and the audio engineer that makes a lot of difference, if the source used was the same one.

What is the price of this Blu-Ray in India?